Combined beer-heater, condenser, and continuous doubler.



No. 764,711. r PAIENTBD JULY 12, 1904.

J. J. GORGORAN. COMBINED BEER HEATER, CONDENSER, AND OONTIHUOUS DOUBLER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1902.

no MODEL.

I 1-; 5 13 ii WI '1 i I I witnesses Suva/44km floo'ra/yd UNITED STATES Patented July 12, 1904.

PAT NT Orrrcn.

JOHN JOSEPH CORCORAN, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,711, dated July 12, 1904.

Application filed March 1, 1902. Serial No. 96,282. (No modelf;

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JonN JOSEPH Conco- RAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Combined Beer-Heater, Condenser, and Continuous Doubler, of which the following is a'specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for distilling whisky; and the objects of my improvement are, first, to accomplish with a beer-heater and one worm the same results as heretofore with a beer-heater, two worms, and a doubler; second, saving in first cost of plant; third, saving of fuel; fourth, saving of labor; fifth, saving of Water; sixth, economy of time in the process; seventh, improvement of flavor of the product, and, eighth, the doing away with much accessory machinery and apparatus necessary in the old way. 1 attain these objects by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the combined beer-heater, condenser, and continuous doubler connected with a still with portions cut away to show the internal parts; Fig. 2, a plan view of the upper head, and Fig. 3 a plan View of the bottom head.

Similar reference-numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings,

The still 1 is of the usual type now used in the art and does not form a part of my improvement. The tank 2 constitutes the body of my improved apparatus.

3 is the vapor-chamber in the upper part of still 1.

1 is the beer-pipe for carrying the beer from 2 to the still.

5 is the beer-pipe for conducting the cold beer from the beer-pump to 2.

6 represents tubes which conduct the beer up through 2 and in which it is heated.

7 is a glass gage for showing the quantity of low-wines in 2.

8 represents the gage-cocks of gage 7.

9 is the vapor-pipe which conducts the vapor from chamber 3 to the lower part of 2.

10 is a trap in pipe 22.

11 is a drain-pipe for draining-trap 10.

12 is a drain-pipe for draining the low-wines and impurities from the bottom of 2 into the still.

13 represents the perforated heads in the still 1.

1 1 represents the trap-cups in the still into which the beer flows in its descent.

15 represents the overflow or down tubes leading from one head 13 to the next below.

16 is the whisky-vapor pipe which conducts the whisky-vapor from the upper part of 2 to the worm or condenser.

17 is the chamber in the upper part of 2, into which the heated beer flows from tubes 6 and out of which it flows through pipe 4 to the still.

18 is the beer-chamber at the bottom of 2, from Which the cold beer is distributed to pipes 6.

19 is a stop-cock in drain-pipe 11.

20 is a stop-cock in drain-pipe 12..

21 is the condensing and doubling chamber in 2.

22 is the overflow-pipe for carrying back any surplus of low-Wines from 2 into still 1.

23 represents perforations in the end of pipe 9 in the bottom of chamber 21.

It is'known to those skilled in the art tov which my invention pertains that in the present practice the vapor from the still is conducted to the top of a beer-heater, is caused to circulate about beer-pipes and pass downward, the low-wines are condensed out and sink to the bottom of the beer-heater, whence they are drawn off into a separate doubler, the Whisky-vapor passes out of the beer-heater near the bottom to the Worm, and the lowwines are boiled in the separate doubler and the vapor therefrom condensed .in another worm. Thus there are required the still, the beer-heater, two Worms, and a doubler. On the other hand, With my improvement the vapor-pipe 9 from the still enters a tank 2, which comprises in one tank a beer-heater, a condenser, and a continuous doubler at the bottom of chamber 21, and the vapor of whisky is conducted from the top of chamber 21 by pipe 16 to the worm, whence it is drawn as whisky. The pipe 22 enters chamber 21 at a suitable height to produce whisky of the proof required, as explained hereinafter, and is trapped at 10 and also sealed in the upper cup 14 to prevent the whisky-vapor from returning into the still or the vapor from the still taking a short course into chamber 21 without passing through the low-wines in the lower part of said chamber. This pipe 22 is for the purpose of allowing the low-wines which accumulate in chamber 21 and are too low to vaporize and form Whisky to overflow back into the still and not blow out through pipe 16 to the worm. The beer is supplied to chamber 18 and thence distributed to pipes 6 at a temperature of 76 Fahrenheit, and the part 2 is constructed of .such size and condensing capacity relative to the steam-pressure used in the still and the capacity of the still that with pipe 22 at the proper height the beer supplied in proper amount to feed the still also cools the vapor in chamber 21 as required, so that it is fed neither insufficiently nor in excess. When it becomes necessary to drain the trap 10, it may be done by opening cook 19, whereupon it will drain into the still through pipe 12. The low-wines and impurities may be drained from chamber 21 through pipe 12 by opening cock 20. The end of pipe 9, which enters the lower part of chamber 21, enters just above the bottom head, as shown in Fig. 3, and has perforations 23 of such number and of such minitude that the vapor from the still is choked or throttled and enters chamber 21 hot in order to boil the condensed low-wines collected there. Pipe 16 for conducting the whisky-vapor from 2 to the Worm has its opening just under the upper head.

The mode of operation with my improved apparatus is as follows: The beer from the fermenters is pumped through pipe 5 into chamber 18, thence up through pipes 6 into chamber 17, and thence through pipe 4 into still 1. Here it is boiled and the vapor passes into chamber 3, thence through pipe 9 into the bottom of chamber 21. In chamber 21 it is partly condensed by the cold beer passing through pipes 6 and at the same time heats the beer. The condensed low-wines and the whisky that has been condensed therewith are boiled by the hot vapor which issues from perforations 23, and the whisky-vapor rises and passes out through pipe 16 to a Worm or other condenser, whence it issues as whisky. The low-Wines accumulate in chamber 21 till they reach the trapped pipe 22, through which the surplus continually drains back into the still, by which means the doubler feature of my improvement is rendered automatic and continuous. It will be understood that the more of the liquid low-wines in chamber 21 the vapor from the still must pass through the more it will be condensed, and consequently the higher will be the proof of the Whisky-vapor that escapes through pipe 16 to the worm or condenser. The quantity of low-wines in chamber 21 is determined by the height of pipe 22, and therefore if whisky of high proof is required the opening for pipe 22 is made high, and vice versa. seen that my improvement dispenses with one worm and the doubler and much other accessory apparatus, saves the steam necessary to reboil the low-wines in the doubler, the water necessary for the extra worm, and the space necessary to accommodate the extra worm, doubler, and accessory apparatus.

The whisky produced with my improvement has a superior flavor because less exposed to the atmosphere than heretofore, and the yield is greater because no whisky is lost in the doubler, the excess low-wines being always reboiled in the still.

I am aware that the still and the tubular beer-heater shown are old, and I do not claim these broadly, nor do I wish to be confined to the particular construction shown; but

l/Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for distilling whisky, in combination with a still of the usual form, an upright tank closed at both ends, a diaphragm extending across said tank at a short distance above its lower head and forming with said lower head a relatively small chamber in the lower end of said tank, a diaphragm across said tank at a short distance below its upper head and forming with said upper head a relatively small chamber in the upper end of said tank, and said two diaphragms forming in the middle of said tank a relatively large chamber, an ingress-pipe entering the lower chamber of said tank, an egress-pipe entering the upper chamber of said tank, an ingress-pipe entering the middle chamber of said tank immediately above the lower diaphragm, a trapped egress-pipe entering the middle chamber of said.' tank above the last-mentioned ingress-pipe, an egress-pipe entering said middle chamber of said tank immediately below the upper diaphragm, and tubes extending through said middle chamber of said tank having their ends hermeticallysealed in said diaphragms and forming a communication between said. upper and lower chambers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In adistilling apparatus, the combination of a still, an adjacent upright closed tank divided by diaphragms into an upper chamber, a middle chamber and a lower chamber, pipes passing through the middle chamber and forming means of communication between said upper and lower chambers, an ingress-pipe from the cold-beer supply entering said lower chamber, an egress-pipe entering said upper chamber and communicating with the still, a perforated ingress -pipe entering said middle chamber immediately above the lower dia- Thus it is phragm and communicating With the still, a l municating With the Worm or condenser, subtrapped egress-pipe at a height above the lastnamed ingress-pipe predetermined according to the proof of the spirits required and communicating with the still, an egress-pipe entering the middle chamber of said tank immediately below said upper diaphragm and comstantially as and for the purpose specified.

JOHN JOSEPH COROORAN.

Witnesses:

JAMES S. Eseo'rrr, H. THIEMANN. 

